Curated

Block party: A Canadian street was just named the coolest in the entire world

Ty Jadah
Ty Jadah
|
Aug 25 2022, 7:55 pm
Block party: A Canadian street was just named the coolest in the entire world

The coolest street in the entire world is in Montreal.

At least, that is according to global magazine Time Out and the 20,000 urbanites it surveyed.

The 54-year-old UK-based publication, which now has channels in London, New York, Paris, Montreal, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Singapore — to name a few — has ranked the world’s top streets based on local experts and readers.

The ranking includes food, fun, culture, and community, of which Montreal’s Rue Wellington came out on top.

“From grand avenues and shopping strips to pedestrianized backstreets and leafy squares, these streets are manageable microcosms of the world’s most exciting cities – each one chock-full of independent businesses, creative humans, and everything else that makes urban life brilliant,” says the Time Out’s 33 coolest streets in the world. “Ready to take a stroll?”

Time Out says Rue Wellington has some of Montreal’s “best restaurants at one end and one of the best new restaurants at the other — plus a slew of bars, cult coffee shops, and family-friendly spots in between — there’s no questioning a street’s cool factor.”

Toss in a tuk-tuk service, a sandy beach smack in the middle, and you’ve arrived on Rue Wellington.

Located in the heart of Montreal’s Verdun neighbourhood, “Wellington” (as it is affectionately known by locals) is constantly evolving. Promenade Wellington, the vibrant 1.3-km strip that is pedestrian-only from June to mid-September, is also home to over 250 businesses — from the city’s newest bagel shop (Wellington Bagels) to a next-level specialty beer store.

Wellington is also a constantly-bustling street throughout the season, offering everything from a free giant puppet festival in the summer to a maple syrup fest in the spring, and even a trendy evolving alleyway nook.

Time Out says the street’s ambiance is accentuated by local patrons lining up outside popular sandwich shops (specifically Boss), and terraces like Bar Palco and their tasty $1 oysters.

 

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A post shared by BAR PALCO (@barpalco)

The publication also highlights Wellington’s restaurant scene, highlighting the “sparkling new bistro Paname,” Les Street Monkeys, El Sabor’s tacos, coffee spot Lili & Oli, and local watering hole Verdun Beach (not to be confused with Verdun’s actual beach).

“Rue Wellington keeps reinventing itself, and Montrealers are here for it,” says Time Out Canada’s Editor Laura Osborne. “It’s a family-friendly strip where live music mingles in the air with the smell of freshly made bagels. It’s where the sound of happy afternoon beach-goers making their way to the ‘secret beach’ is matched by the clinking of al fresco cocktails late into the evening. In short, it’s a street you may never want to leave, and we’re cool with that.”

The trendy commercial street is accessible by three metro stations as well as bike paths that lead to and from downtown Montreal, a simple cruise from Peel Street.

Every year, Time Out polls thousands of people across the globe to fill out rankings of the coolest places to live, work, and play. This time around, the Time Out Index asked over 20,000 city-dwellers which specific streets were number one.

The publication says it also consulted its global network of Time Out editors and experts to “weigh the candidates to ultimately make the call on their city’s number one hotspot.”

The Time Out Index’s annual ranking of the world’s greatest cities also ranked Montreal as the 9th best city worldwide, which came as absolutely no surprise to anyone (except maybe Toronto.)

Here’s how Time Out’s coolest street ranking unfolded for 2022. Maybe next year, Toronto. Maybe next year.

  1. Rue Wellington, Montreal
  2. Gertrude Street, Melbourne
  3. Great Western Road, Glasgow
  4. Yongkang Street, Taipei
  5. VĂŠrnedamsvej, Copenhagen
  6. Karangahape Road, Auckland
  7. Tai Ping Shan Street, Hong Kong
  8. Yaowarat Road, Bangkok
  9. Oranienstrasse, Berlin
  10. Hayes Street, San Francisco
  11. Avenida Ámsterdam, Mexico City
  12. Kolokotroni, Athens
  13. Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles
  14. Ossington Avenue, Toronto
  15. Via Provenza, MedellĂ­n
  16. Calle Ocho, Miami
  17. Deptford High Street, London
  18. Praça das Flores, Lisbon
  19. Oxford Street, Accra
  20. Wentworth Avenue, Chicago
  21. Cutting Room Square, Manchester
  22. Capel Street, Dublin
  23. Jumeirah Beach Road, Dubai
  24. Enmore Road, Sydney
  25. Kagurazaka, Tokyo
  26. Kloof Street, Cape Town
  27. SĂŒleyman Seba Caddesi, Istanbul
  28. Calle Echegaray, Madrid
  29. MacDougal Street, New York
  30. Carrer del Comte Borrell, Barcelona
  31. Newbury Street, Boston
  32. Colaba Causeway, Mumbai
  33. Everton Road, Singapore

 

Ty JadahTy Jadah
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